Spirit Pilots to Management: Honor the
Contract, Respect the NegotiationsPilots to Picket at Detroit Airport to Protest Management’s Continued
Contempt

Detroit—Spirit Airlines pilots, represented by
the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will conduct informational
picketing on Thursday at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), one of
the main hubs of Spirit Airlines. This demonstration comes after months of
fruitless contract negotiations and a multitude of contract violations.

Informational picketing will take place
from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 9, at the new North Terminal
at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Pilot leaders representing the union will
be available for interviews.

“These pilots have been stretched to the breaking
point,” said Captain Sean Creed, chair of the Spirit unit of ALPA. “Every week,
management finds a new way to worm around our contract, to stall negotiations,
or to pick apart long-standing agreements. We simply won’t stand by and have our
contract and the collective bargaining process treated with such utter
contempt.”

Since August 1, Spirit Airlines has furloughed
115 pilots without any commensurate reduction in flying. Management has violated
the contract repeatedly without respecting the collective bargaining process.
The pilots have offered to negotiate in good faith, but to no avail. Management
continues to put the financial burden on the shoulders of its workforce, without
addressing the underlying issues—poor management and unrealistic planning.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest
pilot union and represents 53,000 pilots at 37 airlines in the U.S. and Canada,
including more than 500 pilots at Spirit Airlines. Visit the ALPA website at
http://www.alpa.org.